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Notes -
Yep. The most direct advice I ever got about girls was from an upperclassman on a Model UN trip when I was 14 or 15: “it’s all about escalating to casual physical contact.” As in, once you’re talking to the girl and the conversation is getting a little flirty, brush her hand or gently touch her shoulder while laughing at a joke or something like that. Assuming she reciprocates, you’re golden, and can slowly escalate to handholding or to kissing or whatever (depending on the context). But that first gentle touch is the critical moment.
I do wonder if zoomers aren’t getting practical advice like this. So much of the dating discourse I run across online seems pretty kooky and often orthogonal to the realities of the topic.
I also suspect you’re correct about zoomer girls not knowing how to show interest in a guy in a parallel way, based on my limited experience with them, but I wouldn’t really know.
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